God Bless America

I was away from a computer all weekend, but decided that it was better to post this late rather than never. In honor of Memorial Day, I wanted to list some freedoms that I enjoy on a daily basis thanks to this beautiful (yet wacky) country we live in and the armed forces that have protected all of us and these freedoms.

Freedoms I enjoy and can’t live without:

I can worship and believe in the religion I choose. I can openly have my faith in God without the fear of being tortured or killed.

I married the man of my choosing and could decide how many children we would have together.

As I have two little girls, I’m so grateful that there isn’t a government, hoping for more boys, applying pressures to my family to abandon those beautiful little girls in hopes that the next time I conceive it will be a boy. Words cannot express the thankfulness in my heart that my daughters won’t be forced from abandonment to prostitution at an age as early as six.

I don’t have to cover my face when I walk out of the house. I can look a man in his eye and tell him to eat dirt if he’s being an ass without fearing for my life or fearing a severe beating.

I can vote in any election and do so proudly with much patriotism. No matter what people say, my vote does matter. One person CAN make a difference.

I can have my own opinions. I am free to make my own choices and learn for myself what is right or what is wrong. I have NO ONE telling me what to believe or say and do. Least of all, my government.

I have hope for better things in life. I have the opportunity to change that which does not appeal to me. I am not oppressed to a live of demeaning routines.

I am educated and have every opportunity to further that education. It is not wrong for me, as a woman, to have thoughts and opinions and learn us much as I want.

I am so grateful that when I walk the streets of my home town with my family, I live with constant dread that the gunfire I hear in the distance will close in on me and my family. While crime is a terrible reality, constant wartime is not.

I own my own car and can use it at my disposal/as my budget may allow.

I can listen to any radio channel and watch any TV channel of my liking. I have hundreds of choices and my government doesn’t own the networks and what is shown.

I can blog openly about my feelings and beliefs and my government honors my freedom of speech.

I’m grateful that because I live in a country where (most) people believe in these freedoms that much is done to preserve these freedoms. It is because of said preservations that none of us speak German today, that we can walk our streets freely, that we can have the rights to choose, that we are not held politically captive by any one individual that can rule and dictate our every actions.

I love this country and the freedoms we all enjoy everyday. I’m so grateful for those that have fought to preserve these freedoms. Those like my grandfather who fought bravely during WWII and then liberated concentration camps after. I am so proud to honor those men and women.

Happy Memorial Day!